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Bakur is the Kurdish name for the southeastern part of Turkey, home to nearly half world's Kurds.

Intro

Intro

Since 1984, when the Marxist-Leninist Kurdish political party the PKK launched the armed struggle against the Turkish government, more than 40,000 people have died. Violence and oppression have hit at the core of the region’s social fabric, impacting education and business, stalling growth and progress.

In eastern and southeastern Anatolia, socioeconomic development has been virtually non-existent. Kurdish society calls for full recognition of their identity by the Turkish government. Meanwhile, Kurdish minorities in Iraq and Syria have been increasing in power.

anatolia

anatolia

veli

veli

Since July 2015, the region has experienced a surge in violence with daily clashes between Turkish army and militants from the terrorist listed organization, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Several towns and cities in the southeast have broken away from Turkey, with groups of young Kurds affiliated to the PKK who have taken up arms, dug trenches and erected barricades to seal off neighborhoods and prevent the advances of the Turkish security forces to assert control of their territory.

conflict

conflict

young kurd

young kurd

neighborhoods

neighborhoods

Turkish government forces have declared a state of emergency, imposed curfews and implemented repressive measures against Kurds. A number of towns in the southeast have become bloody battlefields and massive security operations are under way against the Kurdish armed movement, during which hundreds of civilians have died.

soldier

soldier

helfeti

helfeti

end

end

Economical and political factors have contributed to alienating the Kurdish population in Southeast Turkey. The region is in fact far behind the rest of Turkey, with the lowest per capita consumption and revenue levels, the poorest education, and the lowest number of doctors and teachers per capita.

This work aims to represent the current war underway and capture the region social fabric.